By May, the state should make up all the jobs it lost in the Great Recession. That’s the prediction of economist Dennis Delay. He says that would bring the workforce back to 650,000 by spring. And by the end of the year, that number will likely grow beyond pre-recession levels. Delay says he expects that trend to continue through the end of the forecast period in 2017. But he says there’s also some bad news.

“What’s disappointing to me, frankly, is that when I’ve done these forecasts in the past, or looked at the current state of the economy in the past, I’ve always been able to say, 'New Hampshire’s a leader in New England,'" Delay says. "You know, 'We’re a leader in population growth, we’re a leader in job growth, we’re a leader in income growth.' And we’re not a leader any longer.”

That title goes to Massachusetts, which has already made up the jobs it lost during the recession. And Delay says Vermont is just behind the Bay State for job growth, followed by New Hampshire. Massachusetts also outpaced the rest of the region for people moving to the state.